My Cupcake Addiction's Secret to Creating Mind-Blowing Cakes

After the rise of Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes and the countless build-an-animatronic-cake-out-of-batter-and-PVC-pipe shows, craft stores everywhere have stocked up on gadgets that can help you create just about anything you've ever wanted out of flour and fondant. It's an array that can be overwhelming at times—and turn your hobby into a total money pit.

"Nothing annoys me more than when you go into a cake decorating store and you get sold $80 worth of stuff that you're going to use one time," says Elise Strachan, founder of the YouTube channel My Cupcake Addiction, and author of the new cookbook, Sweet! Celebrations. "Someone tried to sell me a butterfly former once, because it gave your butterflies the perfect wings, and it was like $49."

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Strachan's become known for her surprising—and often gravity-defying—cakes, cupcakes and pops, and she credits a huge part of her success to using everyday objects most people have at home to create professional-quality treats. (In fact, she achieved the butterfly wing effect she was going for using an egg carton and some foil.)

A post shared by MyCupcakeAddiction (@mycupcakeaddiction) on Oct 30, 2016 at 8:02am PDT

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Despite all of the products she's tried, there's one everyday item she turns to again and again for just about every baking project: A metal ruler.

"I find a metal ruler's fantastic for smoothing my cakes and for measuring things, but it's also a great leveler," she says. "I use it almost like a concrete leveler on cakes. I drag it along the top of the cake [to perfectly smooth out the frosting]. You can buy the equivalent for about $40, but a metal ruler's about $2 at the stationery store." (Psst ...we found ones as cheap as $1.40 on Amazon.)

A post shared by MyCupcakeAddiction (@mycupcakeaddiction) on Oct 26, 2016 at 12:27pm PDT

That basic ruler has come through for Strachan with all kinds of projects, and has earned a place in her top three most valuable kitchen possessions, along with resealable plastic bags—great for piping frosting or ganache—and her collection of round cookie cutters, all in varying sizes.

"I can make flowers, hearts, pretty much anything out of circle cutters," she explains.

While Strachan's a trained pastry chef, she's made it her mission to use everyday objects and break down complicated steps as simply as possible on her YouTube account, which has earned her 2.9 million followers.

"I definitely want it to taste good, but I also want it to look amazing, and I want it to be really achievable," she says. "I'm always trying to strike that balance between the wow factor and 'you can find this at your local supermarket.'"